


Into Something Brand New

by J (j_writes)



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-24
Updated: 2014-11-24
Packaged: 2018-02-26 20:29:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2665328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/j_writes/pseuds/J
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Well, it's always good to check if a guy's flirting with an inanimate object or with you," she pointed out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into Something Brand New

**Author's Note:**

> [fictional characters based on the internet personas of actual people, doing entirely fictional things. I do not give permission for this work or any of my others to be used in Rooster Teeth content.]
> 
> (AU where Ryan's unmarried and Lindsay and Michael aren't dating.)

"Hey," Lindsay said, tipping back in her chair and pointing her camera in Ryan's direction. "Say hi, Ryan."

"Hi, Ryan!" he said brightly, glancing over his shoulder and giving her a quick smile before ducking back to look at his monitor. 

"What, that's it?" she asked. "No love for my new camera?" 

"I don't generally have much love for _any_ camera," he pointed out. 

She swung the lens toward herself and patted the camera. "Don't listen to him, baby," she said, " _I_ think you're beautiful." She shut it off and set it aside, and turned to find him smiling quietly to himself beside her. "Just because _some_ people would rather hide behind their computer screens all day..."

"Hey, I am performing a valuable service, here," he replied. "If I wasn't editing this video, you wouldn't have any time to play around with your shiny new toys."

"Point," she agreed. "You have noticed that you work at a video production company, though, right?"

"Sure, but that doesn't mean everybody has to be on-air talent," he said. "I think this company has enough public faces without me getting involved, and they're all way better at that kind of thing than I am."

"What kind of thing?" she asked. "Playing video games on camera? Because I might have some bad news for you..."

"Being, you know." He waved a hand. "Clever. Witty." He wrinkled his nose. " _Entertaining_."

"Yeah," she said dryly. "I'm never entertained by you at all. You're just a big black hole of personality, sitting over there. It's only through great strength of will that I've managed to maintain my sanity this long."

"Well, sanity might be pushing it," he said. "I've met you, remember. Anyway, I've probably just worn you down by exposure. You're conditioned to laugh at my jokes now."

"Yeah, your evil plan is working," she replied, grinning at him. "Well, If you ever change your mind…" She wiggled her eyebrows at him suggestively, holding up the camera. "We could use someone with your talents."

He laughed. "Yeah, okay," he agreed, and reached for his headphones. "How about you do some real work, huh?"

"I could," she said, "but you're not actually my boss."

"Geoff!" he called towards the Achievement Hunter office. "Can you make Lindsay do work?"

"If I could make any of you assholes do anything, do you really think I'd be here right now?" Geoff called back.

Lindsay beamed at Ryan. "The man has a point."

He shook his head and ducked back towards his work, still grinning as he jammed his headphones back on.  
______________

"And over here," Lindsay said in a low voice, following Michael as he crept along the wall towards her desk, "we have the elusive _Ryanus haywoodius_ in his natural habitat."

"Shhh," Michael cautioned, raising a finger to his lips and addressing the camera. "The Ryan is a solitary creature, and can become dangerous when startled."

"Very _very_ dangerous," Lindsay intoned.

"So we have to be sure to - "

"Sneak attack!" bellowed Gavin from the other side of the room, dive-bombing towards Ryan's desk and pelting him with stuffed animals. 

"Goddamn it, Gavin!" Michael yelled, straightening up. "It's not a sneak attack if you - "

"I've got him!" Gavin yelled, launching himself at Ryan, who had the presence of mind to push back from his monitor before Gavin full-body tackled him, sliding his chair back into the wall.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Michael muttered. He turned towards the camera again. "And that, folks, is exactly how you _don't_ approach wildlife. Learn from this one, kids." Lindsay swung the camera back to catch Ryan tipping Gavin onto the floor, pinning him there and knocking him over the head with a plush Mogar. "Don't end up like Gavin."

Gavin squirmed away from Ryan, giggling breathlessly. "Ryan, _no_!" he objected.

Ryan stuffed the toy down Gavin's shirt and stood, brushing off his knees and looking at Lindsay. "You know, you were here like five minutes ago. You could have warned me," he said.

"Nature gives no warning, Ryan," she pointed out, and offered Gavin a hand up as she shut off the camera.

"We're not _in_ nature," he objected. "We are in an office building, where serious work is done." 

As if on cue, Miles came pelting down the stairs, bellowing unintelligibly as he raced for the parking lot. "Serious work," Lindsay said to Michael. She held up the camera and waved it towards animation. "Onwards, lads!"

She glanced back towards her desk as she herded Gavin and Michael across the floor, and grinned at the sight of Ryan carefully arranging all the discarded stuffed animals in inappropriate positions around her monitor.  
______________

" – not listening, are you?" she heard in the lull between songs, and knocked her headphones off onto her neck, turning down the volume, abruptly stopping dancing in her chair to turn to look at Ryan.

"What?" she asked. 

He was leaning back in his chair, his screen saver running behind him. "I decided to do a little experiment," he said. "To see how long it would take for you to realize I was talking to you."

"Oh yeah?" she asked. "How'd I do?"

"Impressive, really," he said. "It's been seven minutes. Multiple songs."

"Did you have anything important to tell me, or…?" she let the question trail off, and he lifted a shoulder in half a shrug.

"Not really," he said. "Just testing for science. Determining how long you might last in the zombie apocalypse."

"Oh!" she brightened. "Are you picking your team? Because let me tell you, I have _opinions_ about this."

"I'm shocked," he said dryly. "I was considering you, since I think you would make a decent tank to my rogue, but I've got to tell you, the obliviousness to your surroundings is not a point in your favor."

"Hey, I'm just dedicated to my craft. It takes a lot of work to make you guys look presentable, you know."

"Taking one for the team," he agreed. "You're a real hero."

"Ryan, please. I am a professional."

He smirked. "Yeah, okay, that's definitely the word I'd use to describe you."

"Fuckin' right," she agreed, and saluted him with her headphones before she pulled them back down over her ears. "You'd be lucky to have me when the zombies come knocking, buddy," she said, and this time, as she bopped her head along to the music, she carefully adjusted the volume louder and louder until she caught him tapping along to the beat with his foot.  
______________

"What do you think?" she asked, zooming in close on Ryan's face. "How are your chances looking?"

He tilted his head, sizing up Ray, and shrugged. "The competition's good," he admitted, and turned to look directly into the camera, giving it a suggestive look. "But I'm better."

"Good to see the confidence, buddy," she said. She swung the camera towards Ray. "Ray?"

"Meh," he replied, not looking up.

"You heard it here first, folks! The challenger says 'meh.'"

Michael tipped back in his chair, looking at Geoff. "So are we gonna start this thing or…?"

"Give me a _second_ ," Geoff replied. "Jesus, fucking impatience everywhere." He looked up at Lindsay's camera. "You can shut that thing off," he said, "until anyone around here starts doing anything interesting."

"But it's the thrill of the leadup, Geoff!" she objected. She zoomed in on Ryan again, who was mildly tapping at his computer. "The storm clouds are gathering!"

Ryan arched an eyebrow at her, and she grinned at him from behind the lens. They kept going back and forth, making progressively more horrible faces at each other until Geoff pushed back his chair, standing. He reached to knock the top of Lindsay's camera down as he passed her. "I'm done, I'm done, stop flirting and let's do this thing."

Lindsay beamed towards Ryan, but as she refocused the camera, he had stopped making faces and was looking intently at his screen, his face going faintly red.  
______________

" – as bad as Burnie," she dimly heard Gavin saying. "Did I tell you about the time I bet him he couldn't fall asleep in the – "

"Shut _up_ Gavin," Michael interrupted, and Lindsay flung an arm over her eyes, groaning. "Look, you fucking woke her up."

"Nope, 's good," Lindsay assured him. "I'm awake."

"Mmhm," he said. "You look it."

"What'd I miss?" She peeked up at them, squinting in the harsh light.

Michael shrugged. "Mayhem," he said. "Shenanigans. The usual livestream stuff. Something tells me you'll be able to catch up with what you missed online somewhere, maybe." He waved at the door. "We're heading out," he explained. "Figured I'd check and see if you might be sick of sleeping on our cramped little couch and want some company walking home."

She pulled out her phone to glance at the time and shook her head. "Nah, my shift in the control room starts in an hour and a half," she said. "I'll just nap until then."

"'kay," he agreed. He settled a hand against Gavin's back to steer him towards the door, and flicked off the lights on his way out of the room. "'Night." She curled up against the couch cushions, considering maybe wandering over to the annex to check on the stream, but she was asleep again before the thought could really take hold.

The next time she woke, it was to the sound of her alarm, and she was warm and comfortable, tucked under a blanket. She fumbled for her phone, shutting it off, and sat up, yawning.

There was a screen on at Geoff's station, someone sitting there half illuminated in the still-dark room. "Geoff?" she asked hesitantly.

"Nope, try again," Ryan said.

"Oh, hey." She pulled the blanket tighter around her, tucking her feet up under it. "You're still here? I thought you went home like a reasonable human being hours ago."

He shrugged. "Technical difficulties," he said. "I was on my way out, but – " he shrugged. "You know how it goes. Have a good nap? That is a surprisingly great couch, isn't it?"

"It really is," she agreed. "I'm starting to think you don't even _want_ a real desk in here."

"Oh, I don't," he replied quickly. "God, can you imagine? I'd never get anything done ever. No, the setup we've got going now is ideal. I hang out with you out there most of the day being more or less productive, and get to come sit on the comfy couch to film."

She held up the blanket. "Well, if you want a nap…"

He grinned. "No, thanks," he said. He closed his computer. "It's a good couch for sitting, but I don't really fold up that small."

"Please," she said, "you're barely taller than me."

"Anyway," he continued, "I stole that blanket for you from the animators. So…"

"Ew." She dropped it on the floor.

He shrugged. "Kerry was the first person I found who knew where we had one."

She blinked at him. "You went looking for a blanket for me?" 

"You looked cold." He stood, scooping up his computer under one arm and crossing the room to retrieve the blanket. He tossed it over his shoulder and offered her a hand up. "You got a shift now?"

She nodded, taking his offered hand and pulling herself off the couch, stretching when she was up. "You out?"

"Yeah, I think so. Call me if anything starts going screwy again, though, okay? They'll give you the lowdown over there, but they were getting some weird glitches."

She nodded. "Will do." 

He tossed the blanket around her shoulders when they reached the parking lot. "Give that back to Kerry, would you?" He split off towards his car. "See you Monday. In, you know – " he checked his watch, "not nearly enough hours."

She groaned. "Don't remind me." She waved. "'Night. And thanks." She lifted the end of the blanket at him. "Although now that I've figured out the secret behind your couch, you're probably never going to get me off it."

He shrugged. "That's cool," he said, "we can share." He gave her a small smile. "We're already pretty good at that."

"We're all right, I guess," she agreed, grinning, and tied the blanket around her like a cape, flapping it at him as she headed off towards the annex.  
______________

"Celebratory bevs!" Gavin announced as he settled the Tower of Pimps onto this desk. Geoff predictably rolled across the room to knock it over, and propped his legs up onto Gavin's lap, tipping back to look into Lindsay's camera.

"Let's stop!" he said, and she cut the video.

"Bevs?" Gavin asked, clapping a hand to Geoff's leg, and Geoff gave him a withering look.

" _Always._ "

"Bevs?" Gavin asked, turning to Michael and Jack, who both shrugged and nodded, then to Ray.

"I mean – " he said, and Gavin waved a hand at him.

"Okay, not-bevs, then."

"Not-bevs, I'm in for," Ray agreed. 

Gavin turned to Ryan, pointing at him with both fingers, eyebrow raised. "Not-bevs?"

Ryan shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so."

"Lost cause," said Geoff, tipping back further in his chair. "He doesn't know how fun works."

"True," Lindsay agreed, and perched on the end of the couch, looking down at Ryan. "But he does owe me a beer for that bet we made over the last _Go_."

"I did say that," Ryan admitted.

"You better pay up," Michael said darkly, "or she'll make your life _miserable_."

"That was one time!" Lindsay objected. "And you deserved it." She looked towards Ryan, ready to defend her honor further, but he was watching her, seeming to consider it.

"Yeah," he said finally. "Okay. Bevs. Sure."

Gavin peered at him, then at Lindsay. "Are you magic?" he asked her earnestly.

"'Course I am," she replied. She kicked Ryan lightly as she hopped off the couch, and he grinned up at her.

"Save your shit, boys," Geoff said. "Bus is rolling out in five."

The bar was crowded and loud, and they ended up in the back corner, Lindsay pressed between Ryan and Gavin against the wall. Ryan had settled in comfortably with one arm stretched along the back of the booth, the other gesturing as he argued the details of the story Geoff was telling, and there was a part of Lindsay that wanted to pull out her phone and capture him like this, grinning and relaxed in the dim light of the bar. It was a side of him they didn’t get to see often enough, and when Geoff turned to Gavin for backup, she let her head tip back against his arm, smiling.

He jostled her head lightly with his shoulder, his body shifting warm and solid next to her. "Hey," he said quietly. He nodded toward the empty glass in front of her. "What do you think? Was it a satisfactory beer? Has my side of the bargain been fulfilled?"

She sat up again and inspected her glass. "I don't know," she said. "I'm not sure I’m entirely satisfied. You might need to get me another."

He laughed quietly, and Michael leaned across the table to pull her into his conversation with Ray, so she missed the waitress delivering another glass, nearly knocking it over when she turned back to Ryan. He had pulled his arm away from the back of the seat, but he was watching her when she turned around, and she smacked him lightly.

"For crying out loud, Ryan," she said, "I didn't _mean_ it." 

He shrugged unapologetically. "I am a man of my word," he said. "If I owe someone a beer, they get a beer. If they are not satisfied with that beer, they get another."

"Wait, so can this go on indefinitely?" Geoff asked, leaning forward. "Because I can think of like six bets I would like to make with you right now."

"I said I'm a man of my word," Ryan said evenly, "not that I'm a chump."

"Worth a shot," Geoff said, and toasted him. Ryan tipped his own water glass in his direction and turned back to Lindsay. 

"What do you think?" he asked. "We even?"

"Well, I'd say that now I owe _you_ a beer, but that's not currency you trade in." 

"So we're even, then," he said decisively.

"I mean, if you say so," she said.

He nodded. "I do," he assured her.

"Because a Tuggey always pays her debts," she said seriously.

Geoff groaned from across the table. "Man, of _course_ you'd be a Lannister," he said.

"I don't know," Gavin objected. "I don't think that's quite right."

Lindsay met Ryan's eyes, and they grinned at each other as the table devolved into an argument over who fell into which house. He leaned his glass over to clink against hers. "Cheers," he said quietly, and settled his arm across the back of the seat again.  
______________

"So what," Michael said, propping himself on the edge of her desk. "Did Kdin just drop all his editing on you while he's on vacation?" He shook his head disapprovingly. "That asshole."

"No, he was - " Lindsay began, and interrupted herself, turning back to the screen. "Wait, how'd you know this is Kdin's?" 

"Well, Ryan's not looking at the camera, is he?" Michael said. He shrugged. "Easy." Gavin appeared in the doorway, and Michael pushed himself off the desk. "Burrito?" he offered. 

"Oh my god, yes," Lindsay replied. "That sounds like the greatest idea I've ever heard. You're my hero."

"I know," Michael said easily as he crossed towards Gavin. "The usual?"

" _Please_ ," Lindsay replied. She turned back to her screen as they left, taking in the scene of Ryan hunched over his screen, intent on chasing down his opponent. He was tossing a comment at the camera every once in a while, but focused on his task, barely glancing up. She paused and opened her own recording from the same session, earlier in the match when he was playing a different game, and found him looking into the camera, smiling up at her in between tracking his prey, keeping up a running commentary and laughing at her responses. 

She shut down that file and opened another, and another. She barely glanced up at Michael when he returned with her burrito, exchanging it for cash with her headphones still on, scrolling through weeks of footage, finding Ryan's eyes meeting hers and crinkling in a smile in almost every video. 

" _Boo_ ," Ryan said behind her quietly, tipping her chair back lightly, and she jumped.

"Oh," she said, flustered, "hey." She minimized all her windows.

"Gonna eat that, or…?" he asked, pointing at her burrito, which was lying open but untouched beside her. 

"Right, yeah," she replied.

"What?" he asked, grinning down at her with the same smile he gave the camera in so many of her clips, easy and oddly confidential, "you get distracted looking at my pretty face?"

"You used to be a model!" she blurted out.

He blinked, looking startled, then laughed. "I mean, yeah," he said. "Is that…relevant?"

"Yes," she said. "Well, no. I don't know. Probably? What I mean is, you learned how to flirt with cameras. You know, professionally."

He grinned. "I probably wouldn't call it that," he said, "but sure, yeah. Flirting with cameras. That's a thing I've done." 

"Right," she said. She looked back at her screen, closed her files, and reached for her burrito. He was still there, leaning against the back of her chair and looking down at her.

"That's it?" he asked.

She shrugged and nodded, mouth full of burrito. "That's it."

"Okay," he said, drawing out the word like he was waiting for her to elaborate. When she didn't, he shrugged and settled into his chair. She went back to editing Kdin's footage, but later that afternoon, when Ryan disappeared into the Achievement Hunter office to film, she started going through her files again, opening videos shot by Caleb, and Gavin, and Geoff, testing out Michael's theory. Ryan didn't act any differently in them than he did in her footage, joking with the others, occasionally making some deadpan statement into the camera, but he wasn't quite as focused on the lens, didn't seem to be waiting for a response the same way he did with her. The differences were subtle, but they were there, and now that she was looking for them, they were unmistakable.

"Well," she said aloud to the studio. "Shit."  
______________

"They better be paying you overtime."

Lindsay glanced up as Ryan flopped down into his chair beside her, and glanced at her clock. "Whoa, shit," she replied. She pulled off her headphones and stretched. "I did _not_ realize how late it was. I was just planning to wrap up whenever you guys finished, but that was – " she did a double take at the clock. "Are you _kidding_ me?"

"I wish I was," he said. "I don't know how Gavin's going to make this one anything less than like five videos."

"Oh my god, go _home_ ," Geoff called at them from the doorway, Gavin waving at them over his shoulder, and Lindsay waved back.

"On it, boss," she replied.

Ryan opened his email, and Lindsay turned back to her file. A few minutes later, he powered down and spun around to kick her chair. "You done yet?"

"I would be, if you stopped interrupting me." She checked the syncing on the last few scenes of the video and paused on a shot of Ryan beaming into the camera. "Hey, remember when you didn't want to be on camera? Now look at you!"

He made a face. "I still don't," he pointed out. "It's just, you know. Expected now." He kicked lightly at her chair again. "Plus I sit across from you all day, which is basically a crash course in people sticking cameras in your face."

"Please," she said. "You love it. What would you do if I wasn't bothering you all the time?"

"My job?" he offered, but he was smiling at her.

"This _is_ your job." She returned his smile and kicked his foot off her chair. "Anyway, you'd rather have me sticking a camera in your face than anyone else."

He raised a shoulder in a shrug. "Sure, but I'd – " he cut himself off, looking faintly embarrassed.

"You'd what?" she pressed. She closed the file she was working on, giving him a moment, and when she looked back at him, he looked conflicted, like he wasn't sure how to finish his sentence. She considered taking it easy on him, letting it drop, making some comment to brush it off and packing up her things, but he was watching her intently, and all she could think of were the tiny smiles he'd give her camera, the way he'd make a joke and glance her way to see if she appreciated it, the way he'd watch her from across the room, even when he was supposed to be paying attention to Geoff. "Ryan?" she prompted instead.

"I mean, I guess I'd rather have you do most things than anyone else," he said, and he gave her a half smile like an offering, like it was her decision whether to take the words as a joke or not.

"Yeah?" she asked. "Same, really." He looked startled at the frankness of the answer, tilting his head like he was looking for the trick, so she stood and crossed the small space to lean against the desk in front of him, reaching to touch his face lightly and tilt it up towards her. She grinned down at him. "Would you believe me if I told you I don't have to film you nearly as much as I do?"

He laughed quietly. "This is why you asked me about being a model, isn't it?"

"Well, it's always good to check if a guy's flirting with an inanimate object or with you," she pointed out.

"You." The reply was instant and unguarded, and she didn't give him the time to look embarrassed by it before she leaned in to kiss him, light and quick, keeping her hand steady against his jaw. He looked up at her for a long moment before he pushed back his chair and stood.

"Lindsay," he said quietly, and she fit herself against him before he could continue. He drew in a breath and she could feel his hands hovering just above her hips, unsure of where to rest. 

"It's cool," she said. "You're not on camera now."

"I mean," he replied carefully, glancing past her at the studio, "we probably are," but he let his hands drop to her waist, warm and solid through the fabric of her shirt.

She raised a hand behind her to shoot the finger in the vague direction of any cameras, and leaned in to kiss him again. His lips were hesitant against hers for a split second, soft and tentative until she tilted her head and pressed herself against him, and abruptly his fingers were firm against her sides, his stubble scraping lightly at her face as he responded with sudden heat.

"Not here," he finally said, pulling away and using his hands against her hips to push her back to arm's length. She grumbled in protest, but he leaned in to drop another soft kiss against her lips before backing up. "Goddamn," he said quietly, "I want – " he shook his head, giving her a once over and looking totally overwhelmed, so she reached for his hand and pulled him towards the door.

"Yeah," she agreed. She grabbed her purse from her desk on their way out and dropped Ryan's hand as they passed Monty, hard at work and not even glancing up at them. She grabbed hold of him again as they reached the front hallway, though, and he hesitated there by Kara's desk, planting his feet and not letting her pull him towards the door.

"Wait," he said, his voice echoing against the walls. "Are you sure this is – "

"Ryan." She stepped into his space, not quite touching him, and took in the way his whole body reacted to her, his breath going quick and shallow, all of him ready and waiting for her word. "I have an apartment right over there – " she gestured vaguely across the street, "and I would like to take you to it and fuck your brains out. Good?"

He blinked. "Good?" he replied. "I mean, quite a few levels above 'good,' really. Great, maybe? Fucking fantastic?"

"Sure, you keep thesaurusing," she said. "I'm just gonna – " she backed away from him towards the door, and he let her reach it before he was following, pressing a hand to the small of her back as they exited.

It was a short walk, and normally she welcomed it, but she was wishing for a teleporter before they'd even made it to the end of the parking lot. Ryan was quiet beside her, and there was a part of her that didn't want to give him enough time to consider all the ways in which this might be a bad plan. She glanced over at him as they walked, half expecting him to pause somewhere along the way, hold up his hands, say that they were making a mistake, but he stayed silent, matching her steps steadily, only returning her looks to smile almost secretively at her.

The apartment was cool and dark when she let them in, and she reached for him before she even turned the lights on, leaning back against the door and pulling him with her. He propped an arm beside her head and leaned there for a minute, looking at her like he didn't even know how to start, and then he settled his other hand against her waist and leaned in to kiss her slow and deep, no longer hesitant at all.

She slid her hands around his back and held him there against her, kissing him back until they were both breathless. He pulled back to breathe eventually, and she took the opportunity to duck out from between him and the door, grabbing his belt loop and pulling him towards the bedroom. He followed easily, and when she turned at the foot of the bed to tug at the hem of his shirt, he pulled it off instantly before reaching to return the gesture.

"Hey, you too," he said, quiet even in the still room, and she lost no time stripping off her shirt. She reached behind her for the hooks on her bra, but he reached up to trace the edges of it before it could fall, making her gasp a little. His eyes flickered up to hers. "Yeah?" he asked, and at her nod, he leaned in to press a few light kisses to her breasts above where the bra sat, his cheeks rough against her skin. She finished with the hooks, fingers fumbling slightly, and he slid the bra off of her, reaching to tease her nipples with his thumbs.

She reached for him, sliding her hands down his chest and hooking her fingers into the waistband of his pants to pull him against her. He was warm, his hands broad against her back as they kissed, and when she leaned backwards to flop onto the bed, he followed her easily, kneeling beside her half naked and pressing his mouth to her nipples as he reached to undo her pants. He didn’t pull them down, but slid his hand inside to tease her through the thin fabric of her underwear. Her hips jerked up into his touch, her hand reaching to tangle into his hair and pull him up to kiss her until she was practically shaking with how badly she wanted to feel his fingers inside her.

"Ryan," she said quietly against his lips, and she could feel him smiling in reply.

"Hmm?" he asked, and she reached down to stick her own hand in her pants, guiding his fingers into her. They both gasped at the feeling, and she pulled her hand away, using it to shove at her pants and underwear until she could kick them off. She let her legs drop apart, giving him the space to pull out and sink back in, slow and teasing, so close to enough, but not quite, not until he let the heel of his hand press against her clit as he fucked her, and then she was shoving her hips into his hand, her head dropping back against the bed as she came. 

" _Fuck_ , man," she breathed out, and he laughed as he stretched up to kiss her, his fingers resting inside her until she was squirming against them again. He started to curl them lightly, and he pulled away from kissing her, but she still wasn't quite expecting it when she felt his mouth press against her. "Oh my god, Ryan," she said, "are you fucking kidding me right now?" 

He pulled back enough to look up at her. "Objecting?" he asked, his eyes crinkling with a smile, already expecting her reply. Instead of responding, she reached to sink her fingers into his hair again and drag his mouth back to her as she slung a leg over his shoulder. She came again like that, arching up against his tongue, and his smile when he pulled back was entirely too self-satisfied, so she used the hand in his hair to pull him back up the bed, not kissing him, but reaching to press a hand to the hard outline of his cock through his pants instead. He breathed out unsteadily, kneeling there over her and letting her stroke him teasingly until he clearly couldn't take it anymore and breathed out, " _Lindsay_ ," almost warningly.

"What?" she asked. "Don't think I should make you come in your pants?"

"I mean, you _could_ ," he offered, "but I can probably think of some better uses for me."

"Mm," she agreed. "Yeah, I guess I can too." She undid his pants and pushed at them until he took the hint, hooking his fingers into his boxers and kicking them off, leaning over her like that, naked and hard, and she couldn't keep from reaching for him, wrapping her fingers around his cock to see the way his eyes fluttered shut at the touch, already so close to the edge. She reached for her bedside table without looking, fumbling out a condom and ripping it open, sliding it onto him and keeping her hand there, holding him, teasing the head of his cock against her clit. He dropped his head to her shoulder and let out a low sound of arousal and frustration, and she laughed, using her hand to guide him into her and pushing her hips up all in one smooth movement, sinking him deep inside.

"Oh, holy _fuck_ ," he breathed out, making her laugh again, and then she was reaching for his hip, guiding him to move against her. He followed her touch easily, matching her rhythm and finding just the right angle to make her arch against him. 

She could feel his thrusts getting more erratic, and she knew he was waiting, holding out until she came again, so she leaned in close to his ear as she reached a hand between them to touch her clit, and said quietly, "Quit holding back, would you?"

He groaned and met her eyes briefly, waiting for her tiny nod before he dropped his head to her shoulder again, bracing himself against the bed and letting himself fuck her hard and fast, his hips stuttering against her, and she came just before he did, losing it over the feeling of him sinking into her, desperate to come. He followed her over the edge as she tightened around him, cursing quietly, and he curled down around her as he caught his breath, holding himself up enough to keep from crushing her, but their bodies pressing together, overheated and gasping.

"Damn," she said finally, and he breathed out a laugh against her skin, rolling off of her.

"Yeah," he agreed. He collapsed face down onto the bed after tossing the condom, and she reached out to smooth a hand down his naked back. He shivered, so she kept circling her hand, feeling his skin soft and warm under her touch. He grumbled finally, shifting against the sheets and rolling to face her. "Not that I don't appreciate it or anything, but I’m going to pass right the hell out if you keep doing that."

She shrugged. "Okay," she said, and reached for his back again.

He looked at her sharply. "Yeah?" he asked.

"I mean," she said, "I don't know about you, but I intend to do that at least a couple more times tonight, which would be way more convenient if you're actually here."

He let out a startled laugh. "Oh, um."

"I mean, if that's cool with you."

"That's…yeah. I don't have any objections to that."

"Okay, good." She scooted closer to him, then paused, leaning up to inspect him carefully. "Wait, big spoon or little spoon?"

He lifted a shoulder. "Either?" he offered. "I hear I'm pretty good at cuddling, regardless."

She looked him over and laughed. "Of course you are," she said, and fit herself against him. He hesitated just briefly before wrapping his arms around her, warm and heavy, and she fell asleep nearly instantly, her fingers tracing lazy patterns over his skin.  
______________

"Say hi, Lindsay," Ryan said.

"Hi, Lindsay!" she replied brightly, spinning to face him and her camera. She waved into it.

"Want to tell everybody what we're doing?"

"We're moving!" she announced. She rolled back to show off the empty desk in front of her. "Look, ma, no stuff!"

"Does this mean I have to be Team Same Desk with Geoff now?" Ryan asked.

Lindsay frowned sternly into the camera. "Fuck no, Ryan, Team Same Desk is forever, okay? Screw that."

He grinned at her. "Good to know," he said. "Any last words for this old desk of ours?"

"Good riddance?" she offered. 

"Nice," he said dryly. "After all this desk has done for you."

"Not that much, really," she pointed out. "It's a desk." She frowned at him and held out her hand. "Hey, that's my camera. Gimme."

"What's that?" he asked. "Are you uncomfortable being onscreen? Clearly I should just point this at you indefinitely until you get used to it, right? Worked for me!"

"Hey, Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

She scooted towards him, reaching for his wrist and pushing the camera away to point towards the other side of the room. She leaned in to kiss him thoroughly just out of frame. 

"Shut off the camera."


End file.
